Wet moon

The period when this is most common, January 20 to February 18, corresponds with Kaelo the Water Bearer in Hawaiian astrology and makes the Moon known as the "dripping wet moon".

The annual path that the Sun appears to follow against the background of relatively fixed stars is known as the ecliptic.

For half of a sidereal month (with respect to the stars), the Moon is either north or south of the ecliptic.

The nodes precess around the ecliptic axis at the rate of one circuit every 18.6 years.

The ecliptic makes the steepest angle to the horizon at the equinoxes.